Chapter 2
As Daisy lay in her bed the next morning, she prayed for rain. It wasn’t something she prayed for often. After all, her business depended on the bright sunshine to bring out the dog walkers and paddle boarders who were always happy to spend their money at the Coffee Shop on the Canal. But that morning, with Theo lying in bed beside her, she wasn’t in the mood for serving coffee. She wanted a day for just the two of them. Maybe they could take a walk together, or better still, take the boat out.
After an incident involving a drunken stag do, the boat had been out of action for the best part of a month. Thankfully, she’d found someone who could fix it without taking it out of the water, meaning the cost had been kept to a minimum and she’d only had to shut up shop for half a day, but despite now having a fully working propeller, she hadn’t been out on a trip for weeks.
‘You know, you haven’t told me how long you’re planning on staying,’ she said as she nestled into Theo’s shoulder.
‘I know, because I have to leave later today.’
‘Today?’ Daisy sat upright. ‘You’re not staying for the whole weekend? You drove all this way for one night?’
Theo shifted slightly in the bed and raised an eyebrow.
‘Would you prefer it if I hadn’t? Maybe I should’ve stayed in the Cotswolds.’
‘You know that’s not what I meant.’ Daisy hit him playfully on the shoulder as she spoke. ‘It’s just, I’d love to have some real time together. It feels like the minute you arrive, you’re getting ready to leave again.’
‘I know, I get that. But it’s not forever, is it? When the weather turns, you can shut the coffee shop and spend some more time up in Slimbridge.’
Daisy let out a long sigh as Theo’s words rattled around in her head. To visit him for any length of time meant closing down her business, and that was a hard pill to swallow.
Despite the September Rose being a fully mobile canal boat, the likelihood of Daisy opening up anywhere other than Wildflower Lock or Heybridge was slim. All because of where she was. Wildflower Lock was positioned on a canal on its own strip of perfect countryside. She could head all the way to Chelmsford, or down to the estuary which lead to the sea. But that was where the problem arose. Canal boats weren’t designed to go on the open water. Even Theo had been nervous about doing it. And that was putting it mildly.
The closer and closer to the move he’d got, the more nervous Theo had become. Not because he was leaving, but because of what he had to do when he left. Getting from Wildflower Lock onto the main canal network that spanned across the country meant going, however briefly, out of the estuary and onto the open water, after which it required a trip on the tidal River Thames, before finally joining the network of canals on the west of London, which he could use to get to the Cotswolds and his new home.
‘It’s a boat,’ Daisy remembered saying as they sat down for dinner one evening, when Theo had told her his fears. While she was a long way from considering herself a canal boat expert, she no longer considered herself a complete novice, either. However, it was clear from this situation that there was still plenty she needed to learn. ‘What’s wrong with going out into the estuary? I thought people crossed the channel on narrowboats?’
‘Crazy people cross the channel on narrowboats,’ Theo had replied. ‘Normal people stick to the canals and rivers. The hulls aren’t designed to cut through the water. One big wave can capsize you, with no way of righting yourself again.’
It didn’t sound great.
‘Surely there’s another way?’ Daisy had replied, her previous doubts and worry about Theo leaving amplified by the fear that he might not make it to Slimbridge at all. ‘Is there something else you can do? Another way of getting there?’
He had shaken his head and let out a long sigh.
‘Short of getting a lorry, loading the Escape on, using a ton of my savings, no. It’s fine. It’s summer. The weather is great. This is the time to do it. As long as we have a smooth day to leave, with no wind, we’ll be fine.’
‘We?’ There was something in his use of the plural that made Daisy stop. Did he think perhaps she was going too? Or was he referring to himself and the boat?
Theo saw her concern and smiled.
‘Don’t worry, I’m bringing a friend with me. Dominic has done the route before a few times. It’s not that I’m not capable; it’s just that I feel safer having somebody else do a trip like that with me.’
Daisy did too.
Theo reached across the table and grabbed her hand.
‘Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, I promise.’
And of course, it had been, but that didn’t change the fact that this separation was a big one. There was no chance of him just packing up the Narrow Escape and bringing it back to Wildflower Lock. Not for a long time.
‘Hey, don’t do that.’ Theo’s voice brought Daisy back to the moment and the fact she was now sitting in bed next to him, the crossing weeks in the past.
‘Do what?’ Daisy said, flopping back down onto the pillow with a sigh.
‘Get stuck in your head. It’s fine. We’re fine. Like I said, as soon as the weather turns, you’ll only need to be down here on the weekends. And then we can make up for all the time we’ve lost not being together.’
‘And how do you propose we make up for this lost time?’ Daisy asked, rolling over onto her side and propping herself up on her elbow.
‘You know, I’ve got a couple of ideas.’
Theo leaned in to kiss her. It was a morning-breath kiss, something she’d have previously avoided at all costs, but given how rarely they got to see each other, she took whatever she could get. Unfortunately, no sooner had their lips touched than the sound of voices reached them.
‘Well, that’s a shame,’ she heard a masculine voice say on the towpath outside. ‘I thought it’d be open by now. Never mind, we’ll fetch a drink on the way back.’
Daisy rolled onto her back and groaned.
‘I could put up a sign,’ she whispered to Theo. ‘A sign saying I’m sick, that the coffee shop is closed for the day.’
She wanted nothing more than to sink back into the bed and forget that her job was waiting for her, but Theo ripped the duvet off.
‘Come on, where’s that hard-working woman I fell in love with?’
Daisy froze. The L-word hadn’t been mentioned before, apart from in conversations with Bex and Claire, where her friends had mercilessly asked her to admit how she felt. But she wouldn’t do that. Besides, she told them, she was sure Theo felt the same way as her, so what did it matter if he used the actual word or not? But now she’d heard it, she wasn’t sure how to react. After all, saying ‘woman I fell in love with’ wasn’t the same as saying ‘I love you’.
Was she meant to respond? And if so, what was she meant to say?
With a flood of heat rushing to her cheeks, Daisy jumped out of bed and marched towards the bathroom.
‘Come on,’ she said. ‘If you’re here, I’m putting you to work. You’ve got a lot of cappuccinos to make.’